Pseudofolliculitis Barbae Testimonial

Pseudofolliculitis Barbae

We always get excited when fans of TICO* pass a bottle onto their friends. It is the ultimate product endorsement when someone goes to the length to share a product they think enough of to pass on. Well, recently one of our long time fans, Sam Raver of Austin Texas passed a bottle to one of his employees, Nick DuMortier, who suffers from Pseudofolliculitis Barbae. The story that followed got us so excited, we had to share it.

You see, Sam had most recently purchased a three pack with the intention of sharing one with Nick (no pun intended) because he has more of a issue with shaving than you and I have ever fathomed. Sam thought TICO* Shave Oil might be able to help his buddy and it did! Sam contacted us via our website and recommended that we reach out to Nick to hear his story, so we set up an interview with him to learn more about why he might be the ultimate testimonial, and needless to say, we think it is…

Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today. Your friend Sam said that he turned you on to TICO* Shave Oil. How did that go?

At first I was extremely hesitant as I don’t… I mean I can’t shave. I have a very rare… I have pseudofolliculitis barbae.

Psuedo pock you what? Barbie?

Ha! Pseudofolliculitis barbae… Basically it is the inflammation of your hair follicles. When I shave, especially against the grain, my entire face will break out. My whole face. I get little pustules everywhere. That’s just how my skin is and has been my whole adult life. There’s just nothing I can do about it. It sucks.

Sam told us that you were a Military man. The Army I believe?

Yes, I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002. Back then it was a different Military as we were not in the middle of any big war. It was early on in the OEF and OIF… Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Back then the focus was more on “Do we look good, cause that’s all we have to do around here,” which of course changed to, “Who cares how we look, we have a war to fight,” with escalation of the Middle East.

So, when I enlisted, one of the things our Drill Sergeant taught us was how to shave. They actually had a standardized “How to Shave” Class! They would have instructions like, “Make funny faces to stretch your skin tight,” and “Use hot water on the face and cold water on the blade,” even “Go against the grain,” and so on. And of course with me they were like, “What the hell are you doing wrong, haven’t you ever shaved before!?” So eventually I got a Shaving Profile that kept me from having to shave every day.

That’s amazing, I can’t even imagine. So tell me about this ‘Shaving Profile’?

So I got this ‘Profile’ because I was just bleeding everywhere. The military made us shave every day. They say no matter what that you HAVE TO. So my face was just a bloody mess. It was bleeding everywhere. I had to shave over what were basically mounds of pimples and ripping open scabs. It was terrible. You can’t complain in the Army right, but when they asked me what was wrong, I kept telling them about my situation. Finally I got to go to the PA (Physicians Assistant), and they gave me a ‘Shaving Profile’, which allowed me to grow my hair out to about an eighth of an inch.

Shaving Profile? So is it like a license or a document?

Yeah, it’s a document. Like if you hurt your knee, in the Army you get a ‘Knee Profile’ and you don’t have to do certain exercises, but mine was for shaving. Every time I would get stopped by an officer, they would say, “hey private!” I would pull out my shaving profile and they would be like UNBELIEVABLE. Because I was the only guy who ever had one that anyone knew of. My Drill Sergeant even said “I don’t know how you got that but… you got hooked up, son.”

So you had to carry this Profile around with you at all times?

Yeah, I would get stopped all the time, but I loved it because I would be like, “Yeah… look at that…” In the mornings, everyone would be scrambling to race to the sinks to shave and I would take it slow. I would just trim it every once in a while with a trimmer.

What was the best story about you getting busted and pulling out your paper?

It was definitely this one time in the chow hall. A Light Colonel saw me from across the room and started yelling “Hey you!” and making a scene in front of everyone. “Hey you, come here!” He was just gearing up for the biggest ass chewing ever. I am sure he was like, who is this kid and who does he think he is!?

I have to tell you that the glory of slowly unfolding that piece of paper in front of him and the whole chow hall and watching his face melt in disbelief as he read it was… so perfect. He just handed it back to me and didn’t say anything. Shit, he couldn’t say anything!

Well, I think it’s pretty cool that now you don’t have anyone telling you when or how to shave.

Me too! You have no idea. One of the reasons I got out of the military was because I hated shaving. Now I am able to shave once or twice a week and when I do, I of course can only use TICO* Shave Oil. I love how I can see exactly what I am shaving and what I am missing. With my problem I can’t shave spots over and over again, and with this stuff I don’t have to.

So you’re hooked on TICO* Shave Oil and you can shave now without sever repercussion?

You don’t understand how great it was to discover a product that made it possible for me to shave. I still can’t go against the grain, but that is just a fact of my life. I love the smell of Kind. I would say that clarity, ease of use, smell and the comfort are the four best things about it. When I rinse my razor out with TICO* Shave Oil, I feel like everything comes out very easily as compared to shave gels. It fits in my gym bag perfectly because it’s nice and tiny, and it travels very well through the airport. What more could I ask for?

One last question… How many drops do you use?

More than the recommended amount. I really lather and rub it in there really well and then let it sit there for a bit. I add lots of water during the process to keep it really slippery and then shave away. I usually add two drops to my face afterwards for a little more moisturizing.

Thanks Nick… What an amazing shaving story you have. We’re glad our product has had such an impact on your life.

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What are your favorite aspects of using TICO* Shave Oil? We would love to hear from you too!